Meridian Bioscience Inc. (VIVO) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Meridian Bioscience Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 267,143 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the previous session’s volume of 265,576 shares.The stock last traded at $19.73 and had previously closed at $19.66.

Several analysts have commented on VIVO shares. Hilliard Lyons cut Meridian Bioscience from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 21st. Zacks Investment Research cut Meridian Bioscience from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 8th. Canaccord Genuity restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meridian Bioscience in a report on Thursday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (up previously from $27.00) on shares of Meridian Bioscience in a report on Monday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.22 and its 200-day moving average is $19.71. The stock has a market cap of $827.60 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42.

Meridian Bioscience (NASDAQ:VIVO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.00. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. The firm earned $51.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.10 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meridian Bioscience Inc. will post $0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Director Catherine Sazdanoff bought 7,700 shares of Meridian Bioscience stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.20 per share, with a total value of $147,840.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,840. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Several large investors recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Meridian Bioscience by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 1,174 shares in the last quarter. Numeric Investors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meridian Bioscience by 60.3% in the fourth quarter. Numeric Investors LLC now owns 49,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 18,700 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Meridian Bioscience by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 117,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 4,925 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Meridian Bioscience by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zevin Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meridian Bioscience by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Zevin Asset Management LLC now owns 119,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after buying an additional 18,180 shares in the last quarter.

Meridian Bioscience, Inc (Meridian) is an integrated life science company. The Company is engaged in developing, manufacturing, selling and distribution of clinical diagnostic test kits, for certain gastrointestinal, viral, respiratory and parasitic infectious diseases; the manufacture and distribution of bulk antigens, antibodies, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)/ quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) reagents, nucleotides, competent cells and bioresearch reagents used by researchers and other diagnostic manufacturers, and the contract development and manufacture of proteins and other biologicals under cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) conditions for use by biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies engaged in research for new drugs and vaccines.